Hysteria
by besyd101
Summary: After the mysterious disappearance of Nixie and Lyla, Cam is finally forgiven after his betrayal and helping Sirena and Zac find them. But when two merfolk come along, will they be able to find out why and where did Nixie and Lyla go off to? And who are these mysterious merfolk?
1. Prologue

_**2 Months Ago…**_

_Knock! Knock! Knock! _Zac groaned, rubbing his eyes as he lifted his head up. He glanced over at his alarm clock. 4:30 a.m. Why would anyone be up and knocking on his door this early? The sun didn't even rise until 6:30. He sighed, trying his best to persuade himself to get up. _Knock! Knock! Knock! _Whoever was knocking at the door was getting much more rapid with doing so and the curiosity of what was so urgent was killing Zac. Finally, he pushed himself off the bed and trudged to the door as he peeked out the window to see who it was. It was really dark and hard to tell, but…

"Sirena?" Zac said surprised after he opened the door. He squinted his eyes to see her better and he was very surprised. It was very dimly lit outside, but it was obvious she was a mess. Her blonde hair was tangled in knots and her bright blue eyes were duller and wider.

"Zac, you have to come with me!" Sirena cried, grabbing his arm and attempting to drag him along. He furrowed his eyebrows as he stayed put to where he was standing.

"Wait a minute, what's going on?" Zac asked warily. Sirena spun back around to face him and her concern was much more obvious now that he could see her a little better.

"I can't find Nixie or Lyla!" Zac's eyebrow shot up in surprise.

"What?" he asked in disbelief, wondering if he understood her right. She nodded her head vigorously.

"Yea, we were sleeping at Rita's and when I woke up, they were gone," Sirena explained and Zac sighed, raising his hands to rub his temple.

"Are you sure they didn't just go off to swim or something? Did you tell Rita?"

"Of course I told Rita!" Sirena cried in exasperation. "She's patrolling Mako right now and don't you think that's the first place I would look?" Zac chewed his bottom lip.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked, still rather tired and not entirely convinced that they just vanished. Lyla and Nixie were probably the two most independent of the three and more than likely, they were just out doing something that they didn't want to include Sirena and Rita in. Zac would admit, it did strike his interest and he was more than a little bit curious, but it was nothing to be worried about. Besides, at the moment, he wanted to sleep.

"Sirena-"

"Don't say that this is nothing to worry about!" Sirena snapped with much more fire than Zac would have expected from her. He opened his mouth to speak but once again was cut off by Sirena. "This is and don't even think about saying that Rita will probably find them at Mako!" Zac closed his mouth showing that Sirena was right in what he was about to say. He rubbed the back of his thoughtfully, searching for a reason to calm Sirena.

"What makes you think that they didn't go running off to do something?" Sirena dug in her pocket ferociously and Zac watched her anxiously, wondering what kind of evidence she had to contradict his belief. Finally, she pulled her hand out and opened her palm to show him.

"Because I found these." Zac's eyes widened as he saw what was in her hand. Nixie and Lyla's moon rings. Why in the world would they ever leave without them? This definitely disproved his theory.

* * *

_**Present Day…**_

"Sirena?" Sirena glanced up to see Carly after staring at the table in nervous thought. Sirena sent her a weak smile. "Let me guess...prawns?" Sirena let out a tiny chuckle and nodded. Carly shook her head as she headed off, placing her order with David who was already preparing it.

Just as soon as Carly left her table, Zac entered, immediately spotting Sirena and he took his seat across from her. "Alright?" he asked to which she nodded slowly. "Any news?" After the disappearance of Lyla and Nixie two months ago, they were desperately hoping for a sign of them. So far, they hadn't found anything-not even a sign of them. Still, they hadn't quite given up hope and they had a feeling that they were still out there somewhere.

"No," Sirena sighed, placing her elbows on the table as she leaned forward in disappointment. Carly came back with Sirena's order and Sirena thanked her sadly. "Are we ever going to find them, Zac? I mean, it's been two months already."

"We'll find them, Sirena. Trust me," Zac said assuringly, giving her a smile for extra measure. She smiled back weakly.

"You say that everyday."

"Well, because it's true," Zac defended which caused her to laugh lightly. No later did Cam plop down in the seat beside Zac. Despite Cam betraying them, Sirena and Zac soon forgave him after Nixie and Lyla's disappearance. If anything good came from the mysterious disappearance, it was that it brought the three closer.

"Anything new?" Cam asked, reaching across the table and stealing a prawn from Sirena's bowl.

"Does it look like it?" Zac said snarkily, slapping Cam's hand away.

"Ow! Was that really necessary?" Cam cried, glaring daggers at Zac.

"Actually, it was."

"How?"

Sirena chuckled, watching them do their usual playful spat. It was pretty much daily that they had it, but every time, it managed to get Sirena's mind off of her friends' disappearance.

"You are such a baby, Cam."

"I am not!"

Sirena would have continued listening if she hadn't seen someone dive into the water at the docks. It was a little strange, but Sirena wouldn't care if she didn't see a...tail afterwards? She almost thought it was Nixie or maybe Lyla before seeing the color. Blue. A merman maybe? Her heartbeat quickened. There was another merman?

"You know what, Zac? You've always been jealous of me since the first grade."

"How am I jealous of you and what in first grade would make me jealous of you?"

"Guys," Sirena said, butting into the middle of their quarrel. Cam and Zac both looked at her curiously. "I think...I think I just seen a merman."

* * *

**Hey everyone! I want to thank you for reading this story and I hope that you'll be willing to review. Also, if anyone would like to beta for me, please P.M. although, I just wanted to post this story before the new season comes. I'll try when I can to update, but I'm going to be focusing on my other books for a while. Anyways, thanks for taking your time to read this chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

"Maybe it was a fish," Cam insisted from inside his boat when Sirena rose to the surface with no evidence of her earlier statement.

"A fish jumping into the water from the dock?"

Cam thought over his comment for a minute before saying, "Yea," with a grin. Sirena shook her head.

"I saw what I saw. It was a merman or...some kind of mermaid." Cam was about to protest, but Zac suddenly swam up to talk to them.

"Any luck?" Cam asked, which Zac replied to with a shake of his head. He looked over at Sirena.

"Sorry, Sirena." She nodded sadly. "Do you think whatever you saw has anything to do with Lyla and Nixie's disappearance?"

Sirena hesitated to reply. "Maybe. I don't know. If not, there is something going on. We have to find out what is going on. I'm going to go down and look. Zac can head down to Mako and Cam...head back to the shore. Maybe whoever it is went back or maybe someone new showed up into town." Not waiting for anyone to confirm or ask any questions on what they were to do, Sirena dove back into the water, leaving Cam and Zac in silence for a long moment.

"Is it just me or did Sirena get slightly more bossy since Nixie and Lyla's disappearance," Cam asked, glancing at his best friend. It was a true concern of his - Sirena's personality had changed a lot since Nixie and Lyla's disappearance. She wasn't as easy to push over, she wasn't as quiet and she had become a leader. Cam hadn't even known her that well prior to this, but he couldn't imagine old Sirena doing any of these things.

Zac shrugged it off. "Is it just me or have you gotten slightly more annoying since their disappearance?"

Cam rolled his eyes. "Oh, this one again? Very clever." Zac grinned, pleased with himself, before diving into the water as well and heading to Mako. Cam shook his head as he started the boat up again and headed back for Gold Coast.

* * *

"Enjoy your swim, Cam?" David asked with a genuine smile as Cam approached the counter.

"Uh...yea," Cam said, wondering how he would approach the subject.

David furrowed an eyebrow at Cam. "Where's Sirena? Didn't she go with you and Zac?"

"Uh, yea. Her and Zac decided to head down to Mako; though, and I thought I'd head back." David nodded and smiled unquestioningy, but Evie wasn't so convinced as she glanced over at Cam from her side of the counter.

"Sirena and Zac, huh? Those two have been hanging out together a lot, haven't they?" she probed, staring at Cam from an answer. Cam gave her an irritated look.

"They are just friends." It was true - Zac may have been closer to Sirena than Cam, but it was merely a friendship. Zac may have been a lot of things - rude, arrogant, self-absorbed, but he wasn't disrespectful. He would never betray Evie. He had had feelings for Lyla, but it was never fully came out before her mysterious disappearance.

"Besides...it's about, you know, Lyla and Nixie's disappearance," Cam added and Evie nodded more understandably and a bit regrettably about her previous actions. She quickly left the counter, leaving David and Cam alone.

"So," Cam started rather awkwardly. "Have, uh, have you noticed any newcomers coming to the Cafe lately?" David glanced up at Cam.

"Why?"

"No reason, just wondering if we were getting any new kids at school."

David thought about it for a moment before shaking his head. "Not really. Only the usual tourists, but none that I can think of that are staying," David said, confirming Cam's thoughts. Cam smiled.

"Alright, well, thanks David," he said, taking his leave and walked out of the Cafe. He didn't really know what else Sirena wanted him to do, since there wasn't many places for people to go in their area.

After walking around aimlessly for quite a while, Cam walked along the pier at Zac's house, waiting for his two mer-friends to arrive back. It was getting darker and Cam was growing more anxious for Zac and Sirena to arrive. There wasn't much to do, but if they didn't arrive back to the pier soon, Cam would have to find something to do - which would probably get him into trouble.

Cam heard walking coming from his right and he glanced at Zac's neighbor's pier to see a man walking on it. It was strange since he didn't remember anyone moving into that house, but what struck him funny was the man's apparel. Who would've thought to see a man in combat boots, dark jeans, and a dark, canvas shirt to be on a pier in the warm summer? What was even more strange; however, was when the man stopped at the edge of the pier, raising his hands above his head and linking his hands together before diving in.

Cam stared with an awe-struck expression. Could this be the merman that Sirena had seen? Could there actually be another merman in town?


End file.
